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of a podium but the gearbox broke,
which took 90 minutes to fix, so
we ended up 10th in class and
24th overall - a respectable finish
considering the issues.”
Team BRIT is a great place for
injured troops to get to grips with
racing and the business side of
motorsport but, as with all teams,
those drivers come and go, some-
thing Player encourages. He
explains: “Mark Allen and Martyn
Compton were our first two drivers,
but they have now decided to take
the big step and have left home and
gone on their own, which is what
we are all about. We don’t want to
hold their hands all the time and
they have provisionally set up on
their own with our support.
“We now have three rookies
who have taken their ARDS tests
and are being coached on track.
Our first race will be with Brit-
Car either at the end of July or in
August. We hope to build them up
and start a full competitive cham-
pionship next year.”
BREAKING NEW GROUND
As well as coaching, the team
helps drivers secure sponsorship
and teaches them the skills they
need to work on that element of
racing themselves. Player says:
“We teach our drivers what spon-
sorship is all about and how to get
it. It’s not a case of simply sending
out mass emails, so we show them
how it’s done and what a sponsor
might want from them. A law firm
or bank would want something
different to a local retail shop.”
The team works with troops who
have been injured both physical-
ly and psychologically, and while
there are restrictions facing these
drivers, Team BRIT helps them
around it. Player says: “On one
hand we are breaking new ground,
but we do need to prove we are ca-
pable of mixing it up with everyone
else. Some people expect special
treatment because they are disa-
bled, but then when it comes to this
you want to be treated like every-
one else. You can’t have it both
ways. It’s an imbalance of what is
reasonable.
“The MSA has always been super
with us and put us in touch with
David Butler, Chairman of the Brit-
ish Motor Sports Association for the
Disabled. He’s absolutely superb
and is a triple amputee. When he
was a kid he found an unexploded
mine and blew off both legs and an
arm but he went onto race Por-
sches. He’s now in his fifties and is
MSA’s guy for disabled racing.”
I want women
to race and still
don’t understand
why F1 doesn’t.